I'm Yours
by Far-Away-xx
Summary: She told him that they wouldn't remember when things went back. She was wrong. Ganondorf may no longer plague Hyrule, but another storm is on the horizon, and the very hero Zelda needs is the one she hurt who walked away from her seven years ago
1. Chapter 1

**I'm Yours**

A/N: Based in the Legend of Zelda universes of OoT and MM only. Others disregarded for the purposes of the story. Story title credit to The Script. This chapter title is taken from the song _Saviour_ by _Rise Against_. I've never written a Zelda fanfiction before, so go easy on me! This is something of a prologue, and a bit shorter than I usually publish. Most of the dialogue in this, although manipulated for purpose, can be found at the end of OoT and in MM, in the case of the latter, using the dialogue but not the setting.

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1: Like Memories of Dying Days

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Their celebration of victory couldn't last. They both knew that. The people were allowed to throw their parties, and to dance and to sing, and rejoice in the conquering of evil. They could never have known that before long it would be only be one of many possible futures. But they must have their fun before the clock is turned back. It might not all be real, in the end, but even so they had lived their hardship. The days that had passed between now and the vanquish of evil had already been too long.

"_When peace returns to Hyrule, it will be time for us to say goodbye"_

Goodbye. Why was it so hard for her to say? She barely knew him, what did she fear to lose?

"_Now go home, Link. Regain your lost time."_

She'd stolen time from the Kingdom, from everyone in it, from him. Hyrule could turn back to the way things were before the mess she had created, she owed the kingdom those lost years. She owed Link all the years she had taken from him, years that could now be free of trials and hurt.

"_Home... where you are supposed to be... the way you are supposed to be..."_

It would be selfish of her to ask him to stay and to leave the kingdom in this mess. He was a stranger to her, no matter how much she felt that she knew him. Her heart could not be telling her that she cared for him. He was not meant to be the man standing before her, he was never meant to be the boy standing before her in the castle courtyard. He deserved to grow up as himself, whoever that might be.

And after all, once things were righted again, neither of them would remember any of this. It would only hurt for a moment.

"You won't remember me, Link."

* * *

But Zelda did remember. She was soon once more a girl of ten, peeking curiously through a window in the courtyard at the grand visitors her father had, and at the same time she was a growing woman of seventeen. There was a sharp pang in her chest as the memories came flooding back and brought tears to her eyes. She gasped, hands clasped at her breast. What had she done?

The shuffle of soft leather boots behind her gave her a sense of _déjà vu_. She turned around, disbelieving. Their eyes met. The look in his was the same as when they last locked on each other, grief tinged with horror.

"This wasn't meant to happen." Her voice shook and nearly broke. She sank to the floor and buried her head in her hands.

"I can't stay here like this. I can't live here knowing what happened." His tone said nothing, but there was a sadness in his eyes that belied his age.

"You are already leaving this land of Hyrule, aren't you?" Zelda looked up from her hands, disbelieving. "You know, it's funny, but even though it was a short time, I feel like I've known you forever."

"It's too hard, Princess. I remember seeing this place torn apart, even if time doesn't. I need to come to terms with that. I don't have a home any more. I might not have the reason for leaving the Kokiri that I might have had, but I know now that I will eventually grow up. I can't live in their ignorant bubble." Link looked tired, his blue eyes dulled in comparison to their gleeful colour in their celebrations seven years in their future... was it their future? Zelda wondered. It didn't feel right calling it their past.

There was a lengthy pause. Uncomfortable, thick with things she wanted to hear, to say. "I'll never forget the days we spent together in Hyrule."

He bit his lip and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. "The problem is, Princess, we never spent them. They are a few of many memories that will never happen."

Unable to hold back silent tears any longer, she raised a hand to her mouth. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that they could make new ones. Grow up together, grow old together. They would be better, happier. "I believe in my heart that a day will come when I shall meet you again. We can make a new future."

She stood up and fumbled around in a pocket in her dress. Slowly and deliberately, she moved towards him, the only way she could prevent herself from running and throwing herself upon the boy, so different from the man she knew, holding the very thing that started this mess, the Ocarina of Time. "Until that day comes, please take this..."

Hands shaking, she pressed the instrument into his hands, smaller, less rough and work worn than the ones she had taken it from, before clasping them under her chin and turning around quickly, avoiding the hurt in his eyes. "I am praying..." She started and faltered, taking a deep breath and blinking back tears. Through the window, she could see a very pretty woman blushing profusely as her father, the King, kissed her hand and complimented her new husband on such a fine catch. How could life go on so simply? "I am praying that your journey be a safe one."

She turned back to him and smiled sadly, his mouth was open, as if to say something, but no words came out. He stared at her dumbly, looking betrayed. "If something should happen to you, remember our song. It reminds me of us." The Song of Time. How cruel that the thing that both bought them together and then separated them should be the only reminder she possessed. Link looked at the floor. "If I could go back and-"

"Don't, Zelda. Please don't." He interrupted, for the first time sounding bereaved, almost angry. "I think we're living with enough might-have-beens."

"Where will you go?" She asked, desperately trying to prolong their conversation and delay his departure.

But it was too late. Zelda watched as her Hero of Time left the courtyard and left her kingdom.

* * *

"_A parting doesn't always have to last forever_..."

The parting words of the mask salesman gave him a longing for home that he'd not felt while in Termina. While to the people it had only been three days, they were three days Link had lived repeatedly, and no matter how well he felt he knew the people here, it wasn't home. He'd inadvertedly played the Hero of Time once more, but his victory felt hollow. He'd left Hyrule to escape his memories of dark forces, combat and death, but all he had done was add to them.

Time passed strangely between Termina and Hyrule. The land seemed changed and unfamiliar, just being back there he felt changed, aged, although not yet so far as his recollection could take him. He came out of the forest on the border and found himself on the edge of Hyrule field, staring across at Castle Town in the distance. Epona shook her head impatiently, eager to be out in the open again and out from under the trees.

He allowed her to take a few steps forward, his Princess in mind, of the deceptive promise in her eyes in the days after they defeated Ganon. Link wanted so badly for that reality again, in spite of all he went through to get to it, he spurred the horse on, climbing the hill in the middle of the plain eager to see her face again, but stopped once more. He wasn't the person she had shown affection to in those past days. She wanted the Hero he had been to _her _Kingdom; saving Termina meant nothing to her.

How did he even know that she even wanted that Hero? She had chosen to send them back, promising that neither of them would remember a thing, despite his pleas and assurances that he didn't need the childhood he lost. She had been the one who suggested forgetting it all and making it seem as though it never happened – no, making it so that it never happened.

He gritted his teeth and roughly wiped his eyes with his knuckle. She was better off without him, at least for now. His gaze fell on Lon Lon Ranch. They wouldn't remember him, but Malon and her father were nice people. He was sure he could find work and a place to stay there.

What Link didn't know was that what he was witnessing of Hyrule was the calm before the storm.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm Yours**

A/N: Credit as previous. Chapter title from _Paperthin Hymn_ by _Anberlin. _Still not as long as I would like, but it seemed like a good place to cut it._  
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**2: These Roads Never Seemed So Long  


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There was shouting in the courtyard. There was invariably some form of shouting in the courtyard, some urgent errand or crisis to be averted. She sighed and sat up, dim morning light filtering through the drapes over the window. She shivered. It was unseasonably cold for spring. Tucking the strays that had escaped her plait behind her pointed ears, Zelda swung her legs over the side of the bed, inhaling sharply as her feet met the cool stone of the floor.

Truth be told, she wasn't that annoyed at being woken by the commotion. She had been plagued by strange dreams since she was a child even in this changed reality, and now the disturbing realities were interlaced with memories and genuine emotion, to the extent where it was difficult in them to tell where dream ended. Of course, the court physicians would give her bitter herbs, charms and potions supposed to provide her a restful and peaceful sleep, but they rarely did anything other than leave a foul taste in her mouth. She winced, catching sight of the latest bundle of dried leaves on her dresser. Even the old Sheikah remedies Impa bought her wouldn't relieve her of them.

Zelda shivered again, this time not entirely through cold and shrugged on a robe and sat at her dressing table to begin getting dressed. She raised her eyes to the mirror and curled a lock of her long blond hair around a finger and distantly remembering a future with the liberties of Sheik in it, and piled it up on top of her head again, relishing in thoughts of the cloth tightly binding her breasts, the freedom of breeches. Silently, Impa appeared behind her in the mirror. The woman never missed anything.

"Good morning, Impa" she smiled, dropping her hair and beginning to comb out last night's plait. "I didn't hear you come in."

"You're awake early, Princess. Did the new medicines not help?" She took over for her, and the young woman closed her eyes and leaned back her head, relaxed by her old-nurse maid. "Or was it early morning politics again?"

Zelda smiled at the joke. Her father, somewhat ironically, conducted his secret business at loud volumes in a public area where all could hear him in the early hours of the morning. "I was Sheik again last night, Impa. I was running away again, hiding."

The woman nodded sympathetically. She had long since been in the confidence of the memories Zelda had of, what was to her, an alternate reality. The woman was well versed in the mythology and legends of the land, but had never betrayed to her young charge what truth the put by her recollections. Regardless, it was a comfort that someone knew what bothered her and what she had been through, even if they privately suspected that she was losing her mind.

"I need to get out of here again, Impa."

She shifted uncomfortably, and turned to the wardrobe. "Shall you be wearing the blue today?"

"You know what I mean, Impa." Her eyes flashed with irritation. "You won't find what I shall be wearing today in there."

Sighing, she turned around, and looked at her blankly. "You are doing your histories today, Princess, and then your father has invited the Lords of the North to dinner."

Zelda stood up and faced her squarely, arms crossed, an eyebrow raised. "Oh, I can get out of those easily enough. And there is barely anything else that library can teach me. Our histories have reached yesterday."

Impa was insistent. "It isn't safe abroad, Miss. You're not yet so proficient that we will be safe."

The Princess bridled, her delicate features forming a scowl. "Then perhaps the lessons for today should be Politics, Impa. Because despite the fact that I am nearing eighteen and will inherit this kingdom one day, no one as of yet has enlightened me just what the problems are. I lasted seven bloody years in worse than this! We saved you, even!"

Eyes looked to the ceiling in response. Impa stood looking out of the window instead to hide her scepticism, watching the heated conversation of the men below.

"I'll sneak out, Impa! I will!"

She turned back, her look dark. "You are being childish, Princess. I would have you back in here before you made it downstairs."

Zelda huffed and sat heavily on her chair again. "I know– I know I'm being silly... I just want to go riding is all. Just feel the wind, see the hills of somewhere that isn't the grounds... and come to think of it, not have to ride in that stupid pillion saddle. I'm not looking for trouble, Impa, I wouldn't go far."

Her self-proclaimed guard softened a little. She had been stuck indoors for a long time. They could stay close to the river and never be far from Castle Town or Kakariko. "Maybe some fresh air would do you good."

A mischievous grin lit up her features.

Before anything, Impa needed to make an excuse for their absence in their usual room. The two of them, hiding a change of clothes for Zelda in a picnic basket, found the King in his presence chamber, attending to (or rather formally dismissing, Zelda thought) the concerns of some of his subjects.

As they approached, a red-haired woman in a simple dress was pleading with him.

"Your highness, please! They are ruining our livelihood. If they take any more of our horses we won't be able to afford to remain open. You must intervene with these thieves!" She implored, hands clutching her dress nervously. "As a royal supplier-"

"As a royal supplier what?" Her father snapped rudely, "We owe _you_ nothing, you owe _us_ the terms of our contract. What would you have me do, madam? Send a score of _my_ guard to protect _your_ lands? The same problems are everywhere. I would be remiss in my duties if I stopped looking to the needs of my own tenants to look after yours."

"Your Highness, you are the King! We are all your tenants!" She said exasperatedly, looking around at the Lords and Ladies lounging around the room, silently imploring their help.

"You'd do well to remember that. If I chose I could remove the burden of your land altogether. Now be gone!"

The woman curtseyed, fists clenched, her face clearly showing her to be seething with rage and left without another word.

Harkinian noticed his daughter and his face broke into a toothy smile, far removed from the haughty expressionless face he had previously put on. "Zelda, sweetheart! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oh, father, I was just in my lessons when the thought struck me! Impa was going over with me a history of these grounds and it seemed to me I might remember our noble heritage better if I could survey the land while she recalled to me the significance!" She curtseyed quickly and put on a sickly smile, moving to his side on the throne.

His face darkened slightly, "I'm not sure that is wise, my dear. Maybe another time."

She put on an exaggerated frown and folded her arms, "Oh, father! We will only be in the grounds! We shan't even set foot beyond castle town!"

He inhaled and looked to his advisors and to Impa, who shrugged. "We have some interesting monuments and acquisitions, your Highness, not to mention the temple in town. It would be pertinent to the finishing of milady's education to cement fact in reality."  
Zelda completed the image by batting her eyelids.

Clearly thinking, he played with the ring on his thumb. "Where can my guards find you if needs be?"

They had thought of this too. "I couldn't possibly tell you sire. She is rather keen to see everything. We won't stray out of hearing."

"Very well my darling, don't stay out beyond dark. Now if you will excuse me, I am rather busy today." He patted her on the arm and waved them away. Zelda could smell the air of Hyrule field already.

* * *

Link was in the cow shed when he heard the sound of Malon's arrival. Judging by the slam of the gates on her way in, her venture had been unsuccessful. He shook his head. It was optimistic to say the least for her to think that they were going to get any help. He sighed and perched on the fence. Working on the ranch certainly wasn't saving the Kingdom, but given the alternative jobs he could be doing it wasn't so bad. He worked well enough that Talon didn't object to his occasional long absences when tending livestock was too mundane an existence for him.

She soon made an entrance, the sour expression on her face forewarning him of her melodramatics. She was a sweet enough girl, just prone to overreaction and temper. "They're not going to do anything! _Anything_!" She shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "They're just going to let these... these thieves!" She gave low growl, "Carry on doing as they please and stealing our horses."

Link smirked and looked at the wall, "I did tell you that we would have to manage this by ourselves."

Scowling, Malon crossed her arms. "That doesn't mean you should be _happy_ to be right."

Silence and a stare met her in reply, a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. She blushed profusely as his eyes met hers and shuffled her feet, looking away. It was difficult for her to stay angry at him when he looked at her like that. "Why aren't you out with the horses now, anyway? Dad was meant to do the milking tonight."

"It's all done now, it doesn't matter." He shrugged, hopping off the fence and stretching, "Your father was tired, he's had a long week. He is allowed an evening off.

She looked back round, an element of shyness in her expression now. Playing with her hands, she followed him closely as he left, blushing ever so slightly. "So are you, every now and then."

"Yes, which is why I am going to Kakariko in a few days." This wasn't the entire truth, but she didn't need to know the real reason for his visit just yet, if ever.

Before he could get out of the door, the red-head was in the frame, looking up at him intently, her dark blue eyes wide. She took a step towards him. "Come on, Link, where's your sense of fun? Don't you want to spend time with me? We could both lock up and then-"

They both looked around sharply at a sudden uproar outside of the ranch. Malon gasped and climbed on some crates to see what the problem was and wrinkled her nose. "I wouldn't bother getting your horse, Link, from the looks of it they're bothering some castle officials. Let them get what's coming to them... see what it's like."

Link however, had already whistled for Epona and was swinging on his sword, shield and bow. He looked up at her, clearly unimpressed with this judgement. "Vindictiveness isn't becoming of you, Mal. They need help."

With that, he swung up on the horse and was out of the gate at a gallop. He counted only six of the raiders and two travellers, a woman and another smaller and seemingly younger figure, he couldn't tell if it was male or female. The woman with white hair looked over her shoulder at the people advancing on them and leaned over and gave the hind of the other horse a slap, spurring it on, before turning and throwing something on the floor at the feet of the horses of their pursuers. There was a blinding white flash. The horses started and reared, giving the pair a greater lead, if only for a while – their mounts seemed tired, like they had come a long way, he waved at them, trying to get their attention, to direct them into the ranch.

The younger figure looked up, noticing his approach. The white scarf covering their face fell away and a pair of almond shaped blue eyes met his.

Time seemed to slow, both Link and the figure subconsciously slowed with it. He could see now that it was a woman, and he could see who. The disguised woman sharply inhaled, her horse almost coming to a standstill, the thieves having regained control were catching up on her. Link snapped to his senses and quickly drew an arrow to his bow, taking aim and striking the nearest to her in the chest, causing them to tumble backwards and in the path of another, who he quickly neutralised as they fell. The tumble of their companions drew their attention, and remembering the further losses for every horse they managed to take at their last raid, they pulled sharply on the reigns and fled, leaving the fallen behind.

Link slowed to a canter and came alongside the woman, grabbing the reins and leading the shocked rider to the ranch.

"What in Hyrule are you doing out here Zelda? You could have been killed?" He hissed while Impa was out of earshot and unable to scold him for impertinence.

Clearly still bewildered, she opened her mouth mutely and closed it again, still looking at him, her face frozen.

Link didn't have time to ask any more questions, as Impa, who had doubled back, caught up with them and took over the reins of her charge. "My lady! My lady are you alright?"

Coming to his senses, he addressed the old nurse. "Please, come inside the ranch. We'll wait for them to be gone and I can take you back."


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm Yours

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**3: It Always Comes Out Wrong**

A/N: Credit as chapter 1. Credit for chapter title goes to _Always, All Ways_ by _Lostprophets_

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Malon generously offered them her room in the house for as long as they should need it, but watched them all the while through narrowed eyes, distaste clear in her every movement. She was polite enough and kind enough, but Link could see that she was still smarting from her embarrassment at the castle, and suggested quietly that it might be best that she make her excuses. He framed this saying that he could see she was uncomfortable, so it would not seem like a dismissal. It was easier than to have to apologise later for offence.

When Link had finished securing the gate and acquainting the owner of his guests, he knocked on the door of the room, his heart racing. He didn't know why he'd not recognised the disguise before, he had seen her as Sheik so many times, after all, and studied her carefully at that, trying to place who she was. He had watched how she moved, how she stood when she spoke, memorised her slender silhouette and tried and failed many times to learn how she made her quick escapes, not registering until the very end that it was indeed a her. In the years since seeing her, he had tried to imagine those movements and that nimble grace in Zelda. He knew little of her as a princess, but he knew much about her as Sheik. Inwardly, he supposed that her disguise might make this accidental reunion easier.

When he was told to enter, however, the Princess was wearing a stately gown again, her hair loose and her tiara on, long white gloves once more masking the Triforce symbol he knew to be burned onto her skin the same as it was his, a sign that the Goddesses still remembered the part they had played.

The sight of her in a tight bodice and flowing skirt seemed alien to him, but not altogether unwelcome, and they spent a long while just watching, he leant against the doorway and she sat on the low pallet bed belonging to Malon, whispering in low tones to Impa, her eyes all the while studying him, unabashed. The discomfort her stare caused was different to the type he felt with the ranch girl, all at once searing and pleasant.

Impa gave a short bow to the Princess and left the room, standing by the door, arms folded, a familiar stance. He pushed the door to behind him and stepped into the room. The silence was unbearable. He was not used to silence around her. Their meetings had always had purpose and urgency, with no shortage of things to say.

"I- I suppose thank you would be a good place to start." She managed eventually, wringing her hands in her lap.

"You don't have to thank me" He smiled, taking a step away from the door but stopping short again, unable to come any closer. "I think I've done harder things."

She gave a short laugh and looked at her hands in her lap. The sound was unfamiliar but welcome, musical, and over all too quickly for his liking. "I feel like I owe you so much, Link. You've done so much for me and my people and all I've done is take from you."

Shrugging, he sat heavily on a chair opposite her, eyes still focused on her. He had missed her face so much; he wanted to take in every minute detail in case of another long absence. "Call it a personality defect. I feel like a day not saved is a day wasted."

Zelda grinned again, the awkwardness somewhat abated. "So how did you end up on a ranch with this defect of yours? The palace guard or Kakariko guard and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see you, but this seems so..." She struggled to find the word, looking at the plain white plaster walls and the home-sewn rural scenes mounted on them, "...ordinary... for you, that is."

He leaned forwards on his knees with a lop-sided smile, "A forest boy like me? There was a time, Princess, when I thought that I should never grow up and live in a tree house all my life. I might not be slaying fell beasts and overcoming great obstacles, but I like to think that I have moved up in the world somewhat. It's you, I don't wonder, who looks for more excitement."

The knowing smirk he gave her made her avert her eyes, her mouth twitching into a scowl with some annoyance. "You needn't make fun of me Link. I had seven years of freedom. I might have spent those seven years on the run, afraid for my life, but I had control of it, at least. Today was just... was just my way of trying to relive some of that."

She had expected him to protest there that while she was enjoying freedom he was locked in a slumber in another realm, or awakening sages and freeing Hyrule. She had expected him to tell her that she was being silly, and that she couldn't possibly wish it all over again, but he didn't. He slouched back in his chair, eyes trained on her, watching her intently. They reminded her of the lake, deep in more than their colour. She could see the extra years in his eyes where she missed them in her own reflection. He was a living testament to a life she had once had. In spite of how little time they had spent together, she knew that he knew her well, because he knew her as more than her title. So she carried on.

"No one but us remembers, Link. I have sat in that castle day after day and watched the world go by like nothing ever happened. I am expected to be just a princess and to act like just a princess, which I suppose isn't so unjust because that is all I am... but I feel like more. I guess what I'm trying to say is I've not adjusted as well to being cooped up. I should feel like I've gained so much more from the realm being set to rights, but I'm stuck feeling like... feeling like..." She ran out of steam and shook her head.

He understood, of course. Somehow she knew that he would. Link looked absently and sadly out of the window on the wall at the sun, high in the afternoon's sky. "Like you've lost something along the way."

"Yes." She said simply, looking to make eye contact again, but it was clear that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "You still haven't told me how you came to be here."

With a snort, he turned back. "Had a lovely little holiday jaunt in Termina, possessed mask tried to make the moon fall on everyone, stopped that and came home."

She laughed, eyes wide. "Goddesses! Really? You don't catch a break!"

"I kid you not. Real life attempted 'rock falls, everybody dies'." He stood and stretched. Zelda privately noted how much he seemed to have grown. "In all seriousness, it was considerably more complicated than that, but even with all that over, Termina was never home. I knew I had to come back here. Lon Lon was a place I remembered as welcoming, but I knew there would always be a job to be done. I told you before I left I couldn't go back to the forest."

"You seem to have a nice family going here." She observed, blushing pink and making busy straightening her gloves, "Are you and-?"

"No." Link cut her off, flatly. "Her father hints from time to time that someone should make an honest woman of her, and she never really sees anyone outside of the farm so she has no one else to be the compare to, so of course she tries... but I'm far too preoccupied with other things."

"Like?" She asked, trying to make the question seem innocent, impartial, but silence came in reply.

"I think it's time that I took you home," Link said at length, "as much as I would like to keep you here with me."

Zelda sighed. "Yes. Yes, I'm a little late, but I'll say I managed to escape Impa and ran into trouble. I'll probably be confined to my quarters for a few days, but at least they won't punish Impa."

She stood and smoothed her dress, hair falling in a curtain, framing her profile. Link wondered momentarily that he never recognised the outline of her nose in Sheik. When she looked up, she was no longer Zelda to him, but the regal Princess once more. "I should like you to be recognised at court, if not for past services, at least for this. Will you come with me to the palace?"

"I'm not really comfortable being there by invitation..." He mumbled, straightening the shield slung over his back.

"Very well." The Princess shrugged and gave a small smile as if it were no consequence. "But you will accompany me at least to the gates?"

"I will accompany you to Castle Town." He corrected, "I am not coming to the castle."

Zelda inwardly resolved to have her way one way or another.

* * *

Later, on the ride home, she was somewhat annoyed to see that any desire for conversation seemed to have completely dried up since the subject of what he was up to while at the ranch, and the atmosphere had become markedly awkward. Impa, silent at the best of times, was ahead of them watching the road ahead while Link was just behind her, similarly watching out for trouble. Never one to have anything withheld from her, she dropped back next to him and continued to question him, in what she hoped wasn't too intrusive a manner.

Subtlety, of course, does not come naturally to a Princess who is rarely denied anything. The topic came up quickly again.

"So when did you get back from Termina?" She asked, tugging the reins as her horse veered off slightly. "It can't have been long, I'd surely have noticed you around by now."

He didn't answer immediately, and looked at her for a moment, gauging her reaction. "About six years."

Zelda spluttered incomprehensibly for a while, before stopping her mount, her knuckles began to ache from gripping the reins so tightly. "_Six years_? You mean to tell me you have been back in the country for _six years_ and you haven't made the _slightest_ effort to see me?"

"Princess, if you are to get back before dark, stopping is going to prove counter-productive."

She made a noise and kicked onwards again. "Don't change the subject! You let me sit in there all apologetic and embarrassed when you did the same thing?"

Link narrowed his eyes, "Me not crawling through the drain and sneaking past guards to see you is _not_ the same as you altering the course of time."

She snorted derisively and looked at the sky, "If you are really so inept as to have to still use a drain, I am disappointed in you. And it _is_ just as bad. I thought everyone would forget, you _knew_ I'd miss you."

Sighing, he rolled his eyes, "Think that I did it to hurt you, if that pleases you. I suppose you think that while you've been sitting guarded in your castle I've just been raising horses, too."

Something in her brain joined the dots between this and her father's anxiety about the idea of her leaving the castle, and she whipped her head around and looked at him sharply. He was somewhat over armed for just some bandits. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He wheeled his horse around to double back behind her, stopping alongside her on the way, flicking his blond hair out of his eyes. "Not all of the evil in Hyrule was because of Ganondorf, Zelda."

The rest of the journey was conducted in silence. Zelda supposed that she could have initiated more conversation about something else, rather than coming at the issue in another way, but she was, in all honesty, sulking.

_And rightly so!_ She thought, turning her head behind her and catching his profile against the afternoon's fading sun, her eyes filling with embarrassment at her gushing confessions. _He knew that I regretted going back and that I would miss him, and he stayed away anyway_.

She felt stupid, humiliated, and, more than anything, hurt. She thought she made it clear that she cared about him, and that when she returned Hyrule to normal she was trying to make things right and give him his life back, even if it meant forgetting about one another.

But it hadn't turned out like that. She bit her lip and looked ahead again. They were only a few minutes outside Castle Town now. _I didn't think he'd just carry on with life without me like this. I only wanted it because I thought that he would forget me._

One thing was certain to her. Now Link was back she wasn't letting him go again, no matter how awkward he wanted to be. In the short term, what she needed to do was keep him around long enough to orchestrate another meeting.

Just as she was trying to think of legitimate reasons, they approached the draw bridge and he stopped. "Well, this is where I leave you."

Zelda was pleased to note that any irritation seemed to have gone, or at least lessened as it came to say goodbye, and he seemed sad to see her go. "Come on, at least see me through town." She pleaded. "I think you can afford me a few more minutes."

He sighed and ran a hand up the back of his hair, an unfamiliar action given that up until now she had always known him in a hat – not that it was an unwelcome change, of course.

After looking at her a while, seemingly thinking, he met her eyes, his expression the softest it had been all day, catching her breath in her chest and replacing it with something warmer and heavier. "It wasn't easy staying away, you know. I thought about you a lot. I still think about you a lot. I just didn't feel like the person you'd be expecting to see"

"I..." She started, flushing and looking at her hands, "I-I'm sorry, you know. I always thought I was doing what was right. I knew from the moment we were back here that I made everything so much worse."

He didn't say anything in reply, and instead patted Epona on the neck as she pawed the ground anxiously. She took this as her moment to say something. "I'm going to Kakariko in three days to-"

"No." Link interrupted, sharply, looking up, his face serious and frowning.

This immediately riled Zelda again. "What do you mean 'no'? I am a Princess of the realm. You can't tell me 'no'!"

"I can and I will." He said flatly, his tone brooking no arguments. Sensing his discomfort, the horse fidgeted.

Zelda made a noise and shook her head defiantly. "If you aren't going to give me good reason, I am going whether you approve or not."

Eyes closed, Link sighed and rubbed his forehead. The fact that something was clearly bothering him and he was hiding this from her made her prickle.

"Very well then." Link replied at last. "I'll be waiting for you in Castle Town."

"You know, I've rather changed my mind. I'll go alone." She said drily, rolling her eyes.

"You will not, I will be waiting in Castle Town."

Spluttering for a moment, trying to find a retort, Zelda finally gave a loud cry of indignation, and without a further word but a scathing look backwards, kicked her horse onwards and into town.

Link squeezed his eyes shut again, facing the sky, and gave a deep sigh. "Women!" He muttered, turning Epona round to make his way back to the ranch and the well-meaning hen-pecking of Malon. "Should have gone back to the Forest. Children, yes. Women, no."


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm Yours**

* * *

**4: Rewritten**

**A/N: The usual, no title credits for this one. Just a warning: I am away for the next week or so. There may be some delay in updates! Apologies for this. EDIT: I have exams at Uni until June 7th, updates will be sluggish :(  
**

* * *

Zelda's absence would take some considerable explaining. Despite their best efforts, by the time they had gotten through town and across the ground, it had grown dark upon reaching the castle. "We became caught up," she had shrugged, "I had wished to see the fountain of the Great Fairy in the sunset".

The King had looked at her, one eye in a squint, remaining calm in front of their dinner guests, who were some Barons who looked after the territories north of the Castle, each with their arrogant sons boasting of their land and tenants, eyeing her up as a lone heir set to inherit a kingdom. She shuddered at the thought. "This is incredibly peculiar, daughter, as my guards saw you in several places you should not have been this evening."

She looked very interestedly at her dinner, knowing she was in for it when the Barons were gone. "I am rather sure they did not." She lied, pushing some vegetables around on her plate before putting her fork down and nervously sipping her wine.

Now, waiting in her chambers, tapping her fingers nervously on the window ledge, she was struggling to come up with an excuse, a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had already made her mind up that if he prevented her from going to the Kakariko Spring festival – _and seeing Link again_, she thought – she was not above throwing a childish tantrum to get her way. Seeing as her ladies were still around her and they were in the public area of her rooms, she was confident she would get her way.

While waiting, she wondered why Link was so against her attending the festival. _Yet more secrets of the Kingdom I am not important enough to be party to_, she supposed bitterly, scowling at Impa over her shoulder, who she secretly supposed was filtering the news of the country that reached her. She was once a key figure in the fate of Hyrule, and now she was a figure in a tower, restricted to looking pretty until they could keep her out of politics no longer.

Interrupting her thoughts, her father burst in, with only a few guards in attendance. Zelda began to lose faith in the idea that the presence of others would restrain his clear anger. "Now, Zelda, would you like to tell me the truth or am I going to have to drag it out of you?"

"I really don't-"

"The guards saw you at nightfall entering the grounds." He spat, hands on his hips, towering above her.

She held her ground and looked him straight in the eye, feigning a sigh at being caught. Her decided tactic was to admit to a lesser offence and avidly deny the greater one, hoping the honesty might mask her deception. "Alright, I admit it! I gave Impa the slip and visited the Temple in town. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone without your permission, my Lord Father."

"They also saw you entering town through the south entrance. " His tone was less accusatory, but suspicious none the less.

This was the moment of truth. "They saw Impa, I am sure. She says that she told them to be on the lookout that I did not leave while she checked the field to see that I had not strayed further afield. I was in the temple, Father, and there she found me."

The King studied her a while, eyes as slits, thumbing the signet ring on his right hand, Zelda observed gleefully, which meant he was thinking hard. He turned to Impa for verification. "Is this true, Madam?" He demanded. "Have you been lax in your duties?"

The older woman threw a dirty look at Zelda, knowing that the little minx had dodged punishment again and that she would be reprimanded in her stead. "My apologies, your Highness." She curtseyed, the feminine gesture jarring in her. "I should have watched her more carefully. I believed her interest in our educational pursuit to be genuine."

"You will report to me first thing in the morning, Impa. This lack of judgement needs a serious discussion." He shook his finger at her, eyes narrowed. "Still living in the past, woman. You're not in your village anymore."

With that, he strode from the room without so much as a good bye. The sheikah woman moved quickly across the room and clipped the princess on her pointed ear. "That is the last time I lie for you, Zelda! You're not a child any more. It's about time you acted more responsibly."

Zelda sighed and rubbed her ear, gingerly. "You forget yourself, madam. If I am not to act like a child you are not to treat me like one."

This was not dignified with an answer. The princess softened immediately. "Oh, Impa! I am sorry. You're right. You always are. I've been terribly selfish. But think of it this way," She sat heavily on her bed and kicked off her soft slippers, "he didn't say I couldn't go to the festival. You can visit home!"

"Always thinking of others, our Princess" Impa smirked, giving a light chuckle and shaking her head. "I suppose I might forgive you this time. _This_ time."

In response, she tossed her hair and smiled in the way she had seen the daughters of the barons do in the presence of young eligible men. "It is one of my many fine qualities." She laughed and threw her arms out, laying back on the bed. "I'm not saying my motives are entirely selfless, I do just want to have a bit of fun, you know? But I mean it, Impa, I'd never have forgiven myself if my silly impulses meant you couldn't go home for a while. You've not taken time off in so long."

The woman shifted uncomfortably and turned away. Zelda bristled. "Oh, I'm not going to ask anything about why. You can have your secrets. You, father, Link, all of you! I'll find out one way or another."

She reached up and pulled her tiara off, throwing it in the general direction of her bedside table. _One way or another, even if I have to see it for myself._

* * *

It would have been too much to ask for them to get away without an escort on an outing taken with permission, and no expense had been spared on her entourage, as she liked to think of it, of the Castle guards. Not that they had proven much use in face of real danger before, she thought, remembering the night Ganondorf had taken over. An entourage of men in shiny vests was all they may as well have been.

She was both a little pleased and a little annoyed to see no sign of Link as they left the castle grounds and entered the town. Pleased in that his arrogant presumption that she would want his company seemed to have been rethought, and annoyed because part of her had been looking forward to seeing him again. It was of little consequence, she decided, as she had some escort anyway, and headed into the temple, as was customary before she undertook official journeys, to have prayers said for her safe journey.

The sickly smell of the incense in the temple was rarely comforting for her. It reminded her of the smell of burning the night the town was ransacked, the smell of fear in the air, of death, of those creatures that came with the marauding army. She shivered and turned away from the lesser sages and their ritual. They had no real power compared to those she had seen.

The altar and stone wall at the back of the temple always fascinated her, as she wondered at what it would have been like to be there when Link opened it. The three groves in the stone before the inscription were now empty; the wall remained solidly guarding whatever was behind there now everything had changed. She wondered if it was even anything more than a wall now, if those beautiful stained glass windows and the pedestal and sword even existed any more.

"You're wondering what's behind there now, aren't you?"

She gasped and turned around sharply, to see a familiar face. He was back in the green tunic she remembered, sans hat, rather than the working clothes she had seen before. It was comforting, to see that some things didn't change. The corners of his mouth were ever so slightly upturned, his eyes fixed on the great stone wall. They turned to her, and Zelda bit her lip and looked away under his scrutiny.

"It's all still there. Still safe."

Frowning, but curious, she looked back at him, her head slightly to the side. "How do you know?"

He gave a wolfish grin. "I looked."

Her jaw dropped ever so slightly. "Because you just so happened to have three spiritual stones lying around and a free Sunday?"

Shaking his head, Link shrugged. "I borrowed them."

"You _borrowed _them?" She repeated incredulously, eyebrows raised, "So you've gone from hero to farm-boy to thief?"

"I find that insulting!" He crossed his arms and put on a scowl, but his tone was clearly playful. "I worked hard to get permission to take them for a while."

Zelda giggled, catching herself at the frowns the temple sages gave her, and beginning a slow walk to the exit. "What on earth does one do to convince Darunia, for example, that you will take care of their most prized possession?"

He fell into stride next to her, "You don't think I've been idle all these years, do you? I told you: not all of the evil in Hyrule was here because of Ganon."

Sensing their conversation was taking a more serious turn, she clasped her hands in front of her and adopted a more formal tone. Link frowned slightly at this, but said nothing. "What exactly do you mean? No one tells me anything, you see..."

After a pause, he looked sideways at her. She wasn't exactly familiar with the world as it was, but she wasn't the naive little girl he had met two spans of seven years ago. Honesty would probably be best. "Okay, well, where to begin?" He inhaled deeply.

"The Kokiri Emerald, I suppose. The Great Deku tree was cursed by Ganondorf, and died because of it, but the curse didn't put the Gohma and her eggs in it. I felt uneasy on the ranch, and needed to reassure myself that things were fine. I got to the forest just in time. When I dealt with it as a child, there was just the one... when I arrived as an adult, the village was abandoned and had become a nest of them, the Kokiri hiding in the forest. The Great Deku tree was strong enough to survive that, and the Gohma aren't sophisticated creatures, but it only served to make me more anxious about the state of Hyrule. The Great Deku tree confirmed my suspicions; things in Hyrule were not as they seemed, even before his attempt to seize the Triforce. Once the village was safe again, he lent me the Kokiri Emerald."

They had reached the guards, waiting outside the temple, who were shocked to see the Princess leaving with someone they had not seen enter. They lowered their pikes and one gave a shout, but Zelda raised a hand.

"Peace! Captain, tell your men to be at ease. This man is a friend. He is a warrior of sorts from the South of the Kingdom, and is to join my escort." She was still not used to commanding this many men, and the Captain of the Guard did not miss the slight tremble in her voice.

"Our orders were-"

"_I_ give your orders, Captain." She interrupted, trying to sound more assertive. "It would be rude to refuse his services. He is unlikely to try to kill me, and if he tries and succeeds, you are not doing your jobs properly."

"But-"

He was silenced with a glare. Zelda approached her horse and was assisted to mount. "Sorry, Link. Please carry on."

"A similar situation was at hand in Death Mountain. The Dodongo population in the mountain had increased dramatically. Not as rapidly as they had when Ganon sealed the cave, but more survived than the Gorons could kill, and grew and became more aggressive, straying outside of the cave into the mountain. Unlike the Kokiri, the Gorons are great fighters, and continued venturing into the cave to mine for food, accompanied by Goron warriors, who would protect them as they transported rocks from the cave to their village, but by the time I reached them, they were starting to experience heavy losses. We fought together to overcome them, from the biggest to the smallest, and Darunia woud deny me nothing in thanks."

Zelda nodded, with all the party mounted, they pressed onwards through the town. "Yes, we heard in the castle. The Gorons were proud, they wouldn't accept the help of our guards. The villagers were terrified until you turned up that the fighting would find its way to them. They told stories of a foreign warrior coming to help the Gorons, and I hoped that it was you, but I thought if it was you'd have come to find me."

Link shook his head sadly. "It wasn't that easy. It was the same story everywhere. Jabu Jabu was acting strangely, a few Zoras fell foul of his appetite and he was sealed away, they thought their god had abandoned them. Thankfully Ruto kept away this time, it was easier to find the problem without her nagging."

She laughed, having met the princess of the Zoras. Nagging was certainly a good way to describe her. "So you did it all again?"

"I did it all again. And I came back to the temple and I opened the door and everything was the same as it had been before. Except this time I let it be. I sealed it again and went back to work on all the Temples I could get into."

"The sages?" Zelda queried, her interest peaked because this concerned her directly.

Unlike the rest of his story, so easily told, he carried on with some hesitation. "Yes, the Seven Sages. That was something I wanted to ask you about."

"What is there to ask? You've seen the temples for yourself, surely you've seen the sages as well?"

"That's the thing Zelda, I haven't. I can't get into the Temple of Shadow anymore and no one has been able to get into the desert for some years. Something is wrong with at least one of them."

It suddenly clicked why he was so anxious to come with her. "You think it's something to do with the shadow Impa imprisoned in the well, don't you?"

"And the Gerudo women raiding Hyrule, yes." He said at length.

"Hold on." She almost stopped her horse in its tracks. They were just coming over the draw bridge into the field. "_Women_?"

He nodded, grimly, "They're Gerudo women, Princess. And something is bothering me about Nabooru."

She had a horrible feeling she knew where this was going.

"Nabooru was second-in-command to Ganon, Zelda. She became a sage through her realisation that what the Gerudo and Ganon were doing was wrong, because she was attacked by Koume and Kotake and brainwashed... so what if none of that happened to her? Would she have still awoken as the Sage of Spirit? Would she have thought, as leader of the Gerudo, that what they were doing was wrong?"

Zelda looked across the field in the direction of the desert, her mouth open.

"I don't like not being able to get there, Zelda. I don't like it at all."


End file.
